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Satellite town development land placed on the market for sale

A large block of mixed-use residential development land close to the centre of one of Auckland’s burgeoning northern satellite towns has been placed on the market for sale.

A large block of mixed-use residential development land close to the centre of one of Auckland’s burgeoning northern satellite towns has been placed on the market for sale.

The 27 hectare block borders Wellsford’s central business district and has resource consent for the development of a 25 lot residential & lifestyle subdivision, plans for 33-lot residential subdivision, and two light industrial or commercial sites.

The property – currently a cattle grazing block - is currently zoned under multiple land-use designations, encompassing residential, countryside living for bigger lifestyle blocks and industrial.

The dual residential zonings allow for the construction of new residential suburbs containing a mix of medium density to lifestyle block configurations. The freehold landholding already has residential dwellings on several sides of its boundary.

The flat to gently undulating land has multiple potential entrance points – off Rodney Street, Worker Road, Tomas Street and Totara View - and is being marketed for sale through Bayleys Warkworth.

Country property specialist John Barnett said the property’s location immediately behind Wellsford’s main street and with a northerly-facing aspect would support Auckland Council’s drive to increase the population of the region’s satellite townships.

“The template use for this Wellsford site has been the huge growth in residential subdivision activity in and around Warkworth over the past four years. As Greater Auckland has grown, the city’s expanding residential urban ‘belt’ has pushed northward,” he said.

“First it was the evolution of Silverdale in the early 2000s, with the emergence of Millwater as a planned new suburb of scale. Then as the pace of residential construction and occupancy increased around what was previously a rural township, land became scarcer there so developers looked north toward Warkworth.

“After Warkworth, Wellsford is automatically the next step in the path north. The residential development potential of this block being offered for sale would ideally reflect a visionary new owner who can see a growing Wellsford over the coming decades,” Mr Barnett said.

“With up to 27 hectares of land able to be utilised, the block offers any future owner or developer a degree of risk-diversification by sustaining a potential mix of residential, lifestyle and commercial or light industrial properties – all of which could be brought on stream in various stages as part of a long-term roll out.”

Mr Barnett said the opening of the Puhoi tunnel express highway in 2009 and its pending extension further north firstly to Warkworth and then onto Wellsford, had considerably shortened travelling times to and from Auckland – making the town more attractive to home owners to relocate.

“This on-going expansion of the northern motorway will continue to bring Wellsford into play as Auckland’s northernmost satellite town with all of the real estate infrastructure required to sustain a growth in population,” he said.

Mr Barnett said holding income on the property could be derived from continuing to graze the property by the incoming owner or leasing the farm land out to a local farmer.